Redistribution, Solidarity & Activism on All That We Are
In collaboration with All That We Are podcast, The Radicals brought together two members of the Guerrillaverse, Teresa Machado and Nat Skoczylas, in conversation with Amisha Ghadiali to talk radical redistribution, activism and solidarity. Together they get into the nitty gritties of what fuels Nat & Teresa’s visions and work at the Guerrilla Foundation, their two complementary perspectives from team and Activist Council showcasing different shades of radicalism and political possibilities around what this type transclassist coalition can create - for Guerrilla and the wider field of philanthropy.
Guided by Amisha’s curiosity around their change-making work, Teresa & Nat reflect on how to stay present in a world of overwhelm, urgency and grief and how important it is to anchor our work on sustained actions to renew individual hope and create collective momentum and energy. The importance of sustained action is key here: practising small acts of collectivity & solidarity lead to better results and more connection in a world asking us to be separate and competitive.
In the 1990s, feminist thinker and writer Judith Butler theorised how gendered conceptions around “innate” female traits rendered women’s social roles and attributes unchangeable. Butler revoked this cemented, patriarchal idea by looking at how it was by force of practice passing on generations - rather than biology - that engrained gender roles and attributes as biological. She observed how these roles were learned, repeated and enforced and how inherited habits crystallised behaviours, positions and roles.
She was among the first debunking the biological gender myth, and her theory revealed a message of even greater relevance for change-making work today: that the power of practice & repetition creates patterns. If we apply this lens to political work, we can focus on how practice reroutes habits and unlocks change. This type of intentionality and repeated practice is what guides Nat & Teresa’s liberatory politics.
Beyond resources and individualism, they both believe that mutual aid projects, eco-community initiatives and care work are the substrate needed to withstand crises, overcome conflict and tension and build strong movements. These forms of activism represent the fractal of change that builds collective muscle to fight the juggernaut of late-stage capitalism and today’s social justice movements’ booms and busts.
Listen up for more on their politics, visions, and everyday work.